USS John S. McCain (DD-928)

The USS John S. McCain (DD-928/DL-3/DDG-36) was one of four experimental Mitscher-class frigates constructed in the years following the Second World War. Based on the previous Gearing-class destroyer, the four Mitscher-class vessels had a similar appearance, but each was equipped differently, allowing the Navy to study different solutions to the new challenges posed by the Cold War.

The McCain was originally designated DD-928 but was reclassified as a "destroyer leader" in 1951 and given the new designation of DL-3. The vessel was launched from the Bath Iron Works Corporation shipyard in Bath, Maine on 12 July 1952. She was commissioned on 12 October 1953 at the Boston Naval Shipyard.

The Early Years

John S. McCain spent the first year of her commissioned service undergoing sea trials and shakedown training in the Atlantic and Caribbean. Her official service began on 19 May 1955 when she joined the Operational Development Force out of Norfolk, Virginia in testing new equipment and tactics. She operated out of Norfolk until 5 November 1956 when she was moved to San Diego.

McCain's first Far East deployment commenced on 11 April 1957. She joined the Formosa Patrol, helping to prevent a military clash between Nationalist and Communist Chinese forces that summer, returning to San Diego on 29 September 1957. Beginning in 1958, McCain was stationed out of Pearl Harbor. After eight months of readiness exercises and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training, she got underway for the Formosa-South China Sea, assisting the 7th Fleet in deterring a possible invasion of Quemoy and Matsu Islands. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 1 March 1959.

The McCain made her third deployment to the Far East in the fall of 1959. During this deployment, her missions were largely humanitarian in nature as she carried out rescue missions and delivered food and medications to stricken populations in Laos and India. Her crew also rescued the personnel of a Japanese freighter during a typhoon in the South China Sea. Upon her return Pearl Harbor on 25 February 1959, she began period of yard overhaul which would take over two years.

The 1960s

The John S. McCain departed for her next Far East deployment on 7 March 1961, spending six months off the coast of Laos and Vietnam. In 1962, John S. McCain began six months of operations between Hawaii and Johnston Island during a period of nuclear tests. The McCain got underway for Vietnam on 28 November 1962, patrolling in the South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin and offering support to the Saigon government in its resistance to Hanoi. She also participated in Formosa Patrol in the Straits before returning to Pearl Harbor 16 June 1963.

ASW exercises and joint exercises with other SEATO nations occupied the McCain's crew for the first eight months of 1964. John S. McCain returned to Pearl Harbor 11 August, remaining in Hawaiian waters until the spring of 1965. In August 1965, the McCain got underway for a six-month deployment in the Far East - which included her first combat tour of Vietnam. On 24 November, she shelled enemy positions on the southern coast, then sailed to Hong Kong and Japan where she spent the rest of the year.

After further operations in the Orient early in 1966, John S. McCain returned to the east coast. The McCain was converted to a guided missile destroyer at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and designated DDG-36 on 15 March 1967. By the 1970s, the McCain returned to the Pacific where she remained for the duration of her active duty career. The USS John S. McCain was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 29 April 1978 and sold for scrap in January 1980.

Asbestos Risks

The fibrous mineral asbestos was routinely employed for compartment insulation and as fire control in every U.S. Navy ship through the 1960s. Each ship's engines and mechanical sections usually were the workspaces where seamen or a shipyard workers were prone to be in danger of inhaling airborne asbestos fibers, but essentially all compartments of the John S. McCain posed a measurable level of asbestos exposure.

When the warship took damage, whether in battle, by catastrophic storms, or through misfortune, it usually uncovered asbestos-contaminated components to the air, allowing them to become airborne. If these microscopic fibers were inhaled, the risk of contracting an asbestos-related disease became a concern. However, most sailors and shipyard workers were unaware they were inhaling asbestos fibers.

If you have contracted an asbestos-related condition such as mesothelioma as a result of being exposed to asbestos, you may be entitled to compensation to help pay for treatment options and cover lost income. For more information about this and asbestos exposure, please fill out the request form on this page to receive a complimentary packet.

Sources:

Destroyers Index